Hey guys, I have an 01 camaro. I have been smelling a slight antifreeze smell when i get out my car lately but wasnt overheating. i looked on the ground after being parked and never saw anything. Yesterday I smelled it again and nothing on the ground. My son looked at it and said he saw where it was barely leaking up around close to the firewall area, dripping and burning off something else????. This morning while driving, it was cooler so I turned on the heat, it didnt work, my temp gauge started to climb higher than normal, air worked, but didnt over heat. I hadnt drivin far though. Got home let it cool down and check the coolant reservoir and it had plenty of fluid. ????????? OH also, i remember when I did turn on the heat, while blowing it smelled like a burning smell coming through the vent.

 

Now that you know where the leak is, it should be a simple fix. Either the heater hoses or the heater core will need to be changed, or a hose clamp tightened. The leaking coolant is probably dripping on the hot exhaust and it evaporates before reaching the ground.

 

The coolant reservoir can be full while the radiator is almost empty. The coolant reservoir hose hooked up to the radiator neck may be clogged, especially if the cooling system is filled with DexCool. This is exactly what happened to the 97 LeSabre I bought with a damaged engine.
Remove the radiator cap when the engine is cold! to avoid having hot coolant sprayed all over you. It'll come out like Old Faithful if you unscrew the cap when the engine is at operating temp.

 

My husband came home and looked at it. The leaking was from the weeping hole on the water pump and my radiator was empty. I was checking the reservoir which was full. DUH! So he's replacing the water pump today. Thanks!

 

lets hope that nothing else got ruined in the process. I hope you pulled over and let it cool when it overheated. If you fix the coolant leaking issue and it still oveheats your to late.

 

Sure hope not! It never got to the overheating point, just started rising toward the red before I stopped. We'll see.

 

if the coolant level is to low the temp gage will not read a true temp, without the liquid to transfer the heat to the sensor it reads a lower temp. so long as the coolant level was not to low you should be ok. check oil after running with full cooling system for a short time and look for any signs of water or coolant in the oil. if oil looks normal after checking a few times and like carnage says if the coolant level stays up in the radiator and you dont overheat then your ok, oh and welcome to the forum.